Wade in the dark !!

I am writing this post with my computer running on the "“inverter"” because there has been a power cut.

Now I know that does not sound like a once in a blue moon phenomenon, rather it has become as common as the roads being dug up now and then.(refer to Wade wants a Tank)

Why there are so many power cuts? or rather as the authorities prefer to call them "“Load Shedding.

I know I am being selfish here, because staying in Mumbai I really cannot complain. The situation on the mainland is quite bad. We Mumbaites are quite buffered from the grim situation the rest of the state is facing.

I rather am very lucky staying in Mumbai because of its industrial and financial status as compared to the rest of the country. This very status gives it the topmost priority when it comes to power distribution.

As far as I know Mumbai draws heavily from Koyna Hydro-electric plant (MSEB), the hydo-electric plants of TaTa Power company situated near Khopoli, the thermal power plant situated in Uran , the Chandrapur thermal power plant etc. All of them are then linked to the Maharashtra State grid, which in turn is part of the western grid-- connecting Maharashtra, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh and Goa. The grid is fed mainly by generators belonging to the Central Government undertakings-- the National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC) and the Nuclear Power Corporation (NPC).

But still there are power cuts. The reasons for this are of course the war-lock "“population"”, the imbalance of the power supply strategies, lower capacities of the power stations.

The population factor is especially disturbing because of the sheer toll it takes on the whole power distribution network. I had been lucky enough to visit one of the TaTa hydro-electric power plant. They supply power to the western suburbs of Mumbai. During the visit to that state-of-art facility, we were shown some figures to understand the trends of the power consumption and one thing was sure, that the main thing causing a drastic positive increase in the slope of the consumption curve is population.

I guess it is universally agreed all over India that the power supply situation in India is pathetic so no point dwelling in it any more.

Now whoever said the Power sector is very lucrative was not talking about India. Mumbai alone required 2 GW way back in 1998, so one can guess the requirement today. Plus there are always the ever ready politicians ready to screw the power department with their kitty full of underhand techniques.

One gentlemen in particular stands out. During the elections his main electoral vote bank was the agricultural rich, sugar belt of Maharashtra, so he decides to give free power to them.

One can imagine the conversation between him and his technical advisor.

Mr. Gentleman politician: Listen, I want to build another 2-3 resorts plus buy another 200 acres which implies I need to have more money, which in turn implies I need to be in power, which implies I need to win these elections, which implies my vote-bank votes for me, which implies they are happy with me, which implies I need to make them happy.

So give them free power.

Technical Advisor (poor chap, not his fault, wrong place, wrong time , worst kind of boss) : Sir, What are you talking sir ?

Mr. Gentleman politician: You heard it right.

Technical Advisor: Sir, that'’s outrageous sir. This decision means a sucker blow to the power corporations. They will be ruined with this order.

Sir as it is the cost of coal and other utilities is growing. The maintenance costs have turned into a behemoth.

Mr. Gentleman politician: Lets pretend you never said that and I never heard it. Ok?

Of course this plan was put forth into action, but as predicted was withdrawn after a terrible backlash.

Then all round the world in the developing countries it is acknowledged that nuclear power is the best option to handle the growth demand. India too "“was"” destined for the same with a nuclear plan in place which was to use Thorium based reactors to ensure cheap and plenty of power for the national grid.

Whatever happened to that!!

Anyways "“inverter"” battery running low so got to wind up.

One last thing, due to my healthy experience of power cuts, I hereby announce a new Murphy'’s Law.

Maverick'’s law of Power cuts: The most still, humid, damp and stuffy nights always coincides with the nights with power cuts. J

Wade wants a Tank !!

I love driving. There is nothing in this world which can stop me from enjoying driving except the horrible horrible roads in this city.

It's not because its difficult to drive a car on these roads, it is because I can apathise with my car. I can understand the conditions under which it is asked to ferry people around.

Before taking her out of the car-park, I always say this to my car :- " Listen its a war out there. Anything can happen, you may not return, but I will always love you "

It is a very shameful thing that the PWD is not able to maintain even the roads of this city.

The road laying process (tar roads) has a set of rules, technical stuff which has to followed precisely for the road to stand the duration it is supposed to. But due to the rampant sub-contracting going on in the PWD, these rules are hardly followed.

To a common man, it appears to be some sort of a cartel, where in the sub-contractor is given a contract for 5 years, and the choice to rebuild the same road as many times as he wants.
So obviously he cares a damn about the road. His priority is to set new precedents in building the road in the worst possible manner and in the process earn for his next 5-6 generations.

Plus there is no co-ordination between the various departments of the BMC. One department lays down a new road, immediately the other digs it up for some wire-laying. It requires just an iota of common sense to prioritise these tasks, but NO. The BMC is dumb to the core and intends to maintain its status quo.

Tips on how to identify a careless sub-contracter(The nemesis of the common people).

1 : Look out for dog foot prints on the fresh lay-out (this is classic isn't it. This phenomenon is also visible on fresh laid concrete.)

2: Look out for tread marks of some prick who was so impatient that he couldn't wait for the tar to dry.

3: The newly laid road is taller than the nearest ground floor flat (they just keep them piling on and on don't they ?)

4: The sewer covers are not visible, even if they are you can only see the make not the circumference of the lid.

5: Tufts of plastic bags and garbage visible through the fresh laid road.

and so on........

Well officially the western express highway ceases to exist. It was on the verge of total annihilation, 26th of July just gave it a nudge and it fell over the edge. It's that horrible.

The eastern express highway is fighting a losing battle.

Many of the pot-holes on the railway over-bridge near Powai have reached their maximum depth. For a top-view of the passing trains underneath kindly stand near one of the craters.

Saki-naka:: Can't comment. Haven't been able to muster up enough courage to go near it.

If you want to travel without an off-road, jungle experience the point of origin and destination should be located on a concrete stretch of road.


I am planning on buying a Hummer.... No wait an Arjuna tank sounds better.

Wade Hungwy !!

It was bound to happen one day. I mean for how long was I going to indulge in the same stuff again and again and time again?

It was time for closure; I knew it was time for moving on. And so I did. I finally mustered up courage to say no to Butter Chicken, Butter Rotis, Kulchas, The vinegar dipped onions, The Veg Kolhapuri, The Subzi Jal Frezie and tried something else.

As it so happened, I decided to have a take away and decided on this new restaurant which had opened up in my neighborhood.

The restaurant prides itself in providing world cuisine. But with such tags there is always the danger of one ending up eating "“Indianised"” world cuisine, one of the pit-falls of globalization (People really don'’t know where to stop). So but obviously there was apprehension ordering the food. As I gazed down the menu card and scanned up the different exotic sounding food names labeled under names like "“Insalate salad"”, "“Fire De Mexico"”, "“Arabic Flavors"” I wondered if these names are just an effort by the hotel management to make the menu card look all stocked up.

The reason is, I have been at the receiving end of such tricks before. Once I tried 2 different sounding Chicken fares named Chicken Rada (Yup, that'’s not a typo it'’s a name) and Chicken Garam. Well not only did they taste the same they wreaked the same havoc on my insides. My stomach still cringes at the sound of the name. Whoa, there......…see it cringed again.

Anyways the Quixotic mood I was in, I ordered the Pomodoro bread, Primavera (lasagna), Fusion (pasta) and Corn Nachos and waited.

The wait was bad. You know I was about to shell 400 bucks on the stuff and during the whole time 1 Murphy'’s Law kept coming to my mind. "“Sow your wild oats and pray for a crop failure on Sunday morning".

Then after 1800 seconds, the food finally appeared. Back home as I was quite eager to undo the packing, and then it happened.

The earthy smell of the basil leaves,tomato puree, the steamy wafts of the noodles and pastas, the salty pull of the grated Mozzarella which had been trapped for many, many minutes beneath the aluminum foil and desperate to do their last earthly duty of promising the patron of a veritable feast just jumped out in response to the sudden thermodynamic changes and tickled the olfactory nerves.

My brain being a creature of habit did what it did naturally and told the salivary glands to do their job overtime.

The Pomodoro was the appetizer. Well it was very good in its job. It essentially was a French bread which took to the oven like its own. The meltingly hot bread was covered with shredded basil leaves, minced garlic, olive oil, melted cheddar all very well done on the coil.

They were so well prepared that when my teeth bit through the bread, none of the ingredients showed any signs of post-partum stress or trauma.

The Corn Nachos too did the job of a side-kick very well. Nice and crispy chips and a good white sauce preparation of the corn.

Good stuff.

Overall. Haute Cuisine. Highly recommended to all staying in Mumbai who dont wish to spend 5 star prices for such items.

Do go ahead and try it out. The restaurant has branches in Mulund, Malad and Marine Lines plus one or two in Delhi too.

One should also try the Lebanese wraps at "“Pritam"” just outside Dadar station. Excellent stuff.

Bon Appetit.